As the Carolina Panthers mull over re-signing their top pass rusher, Greg Hardy, they can't lose sight of the bigger need to pay their franchise passer, Cam Newton.

Hardy becomes the unrestricted free agent this year in March, while Newton has one more year left on his rookie contract. In the ideal scenario, they could pay Hardy now for 2014, either via the franchise-tag tender (at more than $12 million) or a long-term extension, and worry about Newton later in the offseason. But for a cap-strapped team with a rising young quarterback, investing too much in a second defensive end (Hardy) is difficult after their other one, Charles Johson, is set to earn $8.75 million of his current six-year, $76 million contract in '14.

The Panthers' current formula of racking up sacks to go with a potential elite passer taken No. 1 overall should be familiar. It's what made the New York Giants, the former team of Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman, two-time Super Bowl champions. Keeping Hardy and Johnson intact would be a key part of that plan for the short term, but cripple a young nucleus going forward. No matter how much Hardy is worth to them, the ability to make Newton happier with less financial stress is still more important.

While Newton just said he has no plans of holding out for his new deal, the Panthers need to lock him up before he can even start thinking about it. Given Hardy should want to see if he can get the type of money Johnson did, their best bet is have him test the market and hope they can still offer him the best overall deal at a price nicer to them.